Prevalence of dysmenorrhea and its relationship with demographic characteristics in female nursing and midwifery students of Kurdistan University of medical sciences

Background &

Dysmenorrhea has a severe impact on health, quality of life, and work productivity due to its debilitating effect and high treatment costs for most women. This study aims to determination the prevalence of dysmenorrhea and its relation with demographic characteristics in female nursing and midwifery students of the Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences.

In this cross-sectional study, the targeted population was 240 female nursing and midwifery students of the Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences who were studying the 2019/2020. The required information was extracted through a questionnaire that had two sections. The first section included demographic information i.e. age, marital status, place of residence, the status of dysmenorrhea, etc. which was answered by the students. In case of the presence of dysmenorrhea, the case subject was asked to fill the second section of the questionnaire, which contained two parts. The first part was related to some questions regarding menstruation, the pattern of their dysmenorrhea, and the second part of the questions were about pain management. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 22.

Based on the findings of the study, 175 people (72.9%) reported that they have dysmenorrhea. Accordingly, 65 of them (27.1%) did not report having dysmenorrhea. In this study, a significant correlation was seen between dysmenorrhea and exercising (P = 0.01) and a history of dysmenorrhea in the family (p = 0.0001).

Considering the high prevalence of dysmenorrhea and its impact on the students' functional activities, it is suggested that educational programs in the field of demographic factors affecting dysmenorrhea and correct pain control methods be planned and implemented for students.